The Valley Catholic
catholic schools
CATHOLIC EDUCATION INSPIRES
community .
February 3, 2015
7
Drexel schools receive one million grant from Hilton Foundation
By Liz Sullivan
The Drexel School Initiative, in the
Diocese of San Jose, has received a one
million dollar grant from the Hilton
Foundation to be used for operating
costs.
“I offer my deep thanks to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation for its most
generous gift in support of the Drexel
Schools Initiative,” said the Diocese of
San Jose’s Bishop Patrick J. McGrath.
“Receipt of this grant is a wonderful affirmation of the new models of
‘blended learning’ and governance that
have marked Drexel Schools since their
inception.”
“There are two stellar aspects of the
Drexel System that are particularly attractive and promising,” stated Sister
Rosemarie Nassif, SSND, Program Director for Catholic Sisters and Catholic
Schools at the Hilton Foundation. “The
first is that it leverages and addresses all
four characteristics of high achieving
Catholic schools: mission and Catholic
identity, leadership and governance,
academic excellence and operational vitality. Secondly, it creates a true system
that networks Catholic schools serving
lower income families with those in
more affluent communities who can
learn from and share both assets and
challenges. As such, I believe it is a
‘pilot made in heaven’ for reinvigorating
Catholic schools nationally.”
“This lends a touch of credibility,
nationally and internationally, to what
we’re doing in the Diocese of San Jose,”
said Chuck Flores, Drexel Schools Director of Operations. “It allows us to shine a
little brighter and deeper. We are excited
for the future and this grant will allow
us to continue working towards our
goals. The Hilton Foundation recognizes that Drexel Schools are transformative in terms of Catholic education.”
There are seven schools in the Drexel
Schools, now in its second year. Those
schools are: Catholic Academy, Holy
Spirit, Most Holy Trinity, Resurrection
School, St. Clare, St. Patrick and St. Joseph Mountain View. The educational
focus of Drexel is blended learning,
which uses tools and practices to
maximize the use of technology and
advanced content to make the students’ learning experience more flexible, personalized and lasting. Drexel
Schools use the station rotation model
of blended learning, a combination of
teacher-led and individualized instruction using digital content on an iPad.
Dr. Flores leads the operations team
that consists of: Jennifer Baran, Director
of Admissions; Jed de Torres, Instructional Learning Specialist; Matt Cordes,
Program Administrator; and Winie
Tunggono, Controller.
On its website, the Hilton Foundation said its “strategic initiatives involve
partnering with grantees, generating
new knowledge, giving voice to issues,
and joining with others to achieve measureable impact.”
To learn more about the Drexel
Schools, visit its new website at drexel.
dsj.org.
Jennifer Baran and Jed de Torres join Drexel School Initiative
By Liz Sullivan
The Drexel School Initiative, in the
Diocese of San Jose, has hired two key
members to its operations team: Jed de
Torres has been selected as Drexel’s
Instructional Learning Specialist; Jennifer Baran has come on board as the
Director of Admissions. The pair joins:
Chuck Flores, Director of Operations;
Matt Cordes, Program Administrator
and Winie Tunggono, Controller.
In his role as Instructional Learning Specialist, de Torres will observe
and mentor each school’s instructional
practices. Baran’s focus is admissions
and enrollment, and working with
each Drexel Principal on their admissions and marketing strategies.
“With Jed, this is an opportunity to
use his skills as an educator on a wider
scale,” said Flores. “Jennifer has some
amazing ideas and her background
is just what we were looking for. We
will use what she has learned to better
serve our Drexel community.”
There are seven schools in the
Drexel Initiative, now in its second
year. Those schools are: Catholic
Academy, Holy Spirit, Most Holy
Trinity, Resurrection School, St. Clare,
St. Patrick and St. Joseph Mountain
View. The educational focus of Drexel
is blended learning, which uses tools
and practices to maximize the use of
technology and advanced content to
make the students’ learning experience more flexible, personalized and
lasting. Drexel Schools use the station
rotation model of blended learning, a
combination of teacher-led and individualized instruction using digital
content on an iPad.
Before joining Drexel, de Torres
spent the last 12 years as the Fifth
Grade teacher at Resurrection School.
He focused on the Blended Learning style of teaching, which utilizes
technology to advance a student academically.
“I am there for the teachers to be
more successful and be more confident
in using technology,” de Torres said.
Baran joins Drexel after spending
three years as the Communications
Counselor Lead at San Jose State University. While there, she led a team
of four counselors in managing communications for 44,000 undergraduate
and graduate applicants.
“I want to make sure everything we
do is in alignment with our Cathol